Albert House Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming and friendly nursery. They happily separate from their parents on arrival and quickly settle into the familiar routines. Children greet their friends and happily play together for long periods of time. They display high levels of perseverance and receive an abundance of praise and encouragement. Children's behaviour and attitudes to learning are exceptional.

Children are highly respectful to each other and staff. From a very young age, children develop an excellent awareness and understanding of their feelings and show real care and concern for others. For example, children remind each other to be careful when walking on the wet concrete outside because it will be slippery. Older children talk about the feelings of characters in a story and discuss as a group why the characters might be feeling sad. Children say, 'You have to share and be kind to your friends so that they will be happy.'

Children benefit from daily opportunities to play and exercise in the fresh air. They practise their physical skills in the well-resourced outdoor areas. For instance, older children demonstrate excellent balance and coordination as they carefully walk along wooden planks. Toddlers explore the soft-play climbing equipment with increasing confidence. Children learn about the natural world. They plant and harvest vegetables and learn to take care of the nursery pet rabbit. Children develop good independence skills. For example, they are encouraged to take off their waterproofs and wellies by themselves after they have finished playing outside.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• The owner and manager are passionate and dedicated to providing children with a fun environment where they can learn and thrive. They create an atmosphere that is cosy and homely, with comfy areas and soft lighting.
• The manager values her staff and apprentice and places a high importance on their well-being. Staff benefit from regular supervision sessions and are encouraged in their professional development. Although the manager monitors staff practice, feedback following observations does not always sharply focus on improving staff practice to ensure the highest quality of teaching is consistent throughout the nursery.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. The manager and staff communicate daily with parents and keep them informed on the progress their children make. Parents speak highly of the nursery and the support they receive.
• Transitions are well supported throughout the nursery. The manager has good links with class teachers from the local primary schools. She shares relevant information prior to children starting school to support continuity in their learning.
• All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. The manager has created a broad curriculum that is further enriched with experiences linked to different topics and children's interests. For example, children enjoy walks in the community and go on bus rides to visit a local museum or pet shop to learn about different animals.
• Children have fun exploring the texture of shaving foam with their fingers. They build towers with sponges, and staff talk to children about what they are making. Staff introduce counting and some mathematical language, such as 'big' and 'enormous'. However, staff do not always consider and fully implement specific learning intentions of planned activities to further support what children need to learn next.
• All children develop strong attachments to their key person. Babies receive lots of cuddles and attention. They babble with delight and kick their legs as staff play peekaboo, which helps to develop their eye contact. Staff provide a narrative as babies play, and they introduce new words, which helps to support babies' communication and language skills.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to develop their fine motor skills. Toddlers enjoy emptying and filling small containers with dry pasta. They use their hands to manipulate dough into different shapes, which helps to strengthen their smaller hand muscles in preparation for writing.
• Staff encourage children to think critically and to problem-solve. Children display awe and wonder as they make new discoveries. For example, older children bang on an empty container and one that is full of water. They discuss with their peers why the containers make different sounds.
• Children are supported in developing an awareness of diversity and cultures represented in modern Britain. They look at different festivals from around the world, such as Diwali and Chinese New Year.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide staff with more detailed feedback after observing practice in order to strengthen the consistency of the already good teaching
• support staff to strengthen the delivery of adult-led activities to focus teaching more precisely on the targeted learning intentions, to further support what children need to learn next.